Give me food!

We are stuck in a rut. It is very easy for Hot Mama and I to decide what the two of us will eat during the week when we go grocery shopping, I can only hope that this weeks Hell Mart adventure will be better than last weeks. The Kid however, is more difficult to decide what we will have him eat. We talked just this past week that we might have to alter our meals plans to stuff that the Kid can eat.

So I ask, what are good easy, quick meals for toddlers whom at the time can’t use a spoon but can use a fork?

We have gone the whole hot dog route and chicken nuggets (where the breading a good source of calcium but that is all it is good for). We have even given him fish sticks but letting the oven pre-heat, cooking the sticks for 20 minutes does not fly with a toddler. When they want food they want it NOW!

We want to expand his taste buds so they do not think that hot dogs and fried foods are an exceptionable form of nourishment. Thoughts?

When we need something really quick I do spinach cheese raviolis from the frozen section. They cook in 5 minutes. My kids LOVE them with a little bit of butter. For the little guy I just cut them up into fours. Also, frozen meatballs…cook pretty quick and good source of iron.

chopped up bell peppers, butternut squash bits, actual sweet potato, my kids used to love (and now won’t touch because they are annoying) shredded chicken that I made in the crock pot. I would also buy bags of frozen mixed vegetables (corn, peas, and carrot blend) and give them those. He’s also old enough to eat whatever you are having for dinner.

I give this advice, yet my own kids have turned into super picky eaters! 🙂

Coryn loves baked potatoes, just don’t mash it up. Cut it up in chunks so he can pick it up. Most steamed veggies are easy to pick up to. If mommy and daddy want chicken, just cut his up in small pieces, closely monitor while he eats it and see how does Also after he eats enough of his food let him try to use a fork or spoon so he will eventually learn how.

We do turkey meatballs. They microwave easily like nuggets. We also roast veggies in the oven like carrot, parsnip, sweet potato and butternut squash. You can season with a tiny bit of garlic and paprika. I agree that frozen veggies are easy to prepare. I usually make our daughter single servings at lunch time using Pyrex cups as a steam chamber in the microwave. I invert the smaller one as a lid over the larger one, add a little water and you can cook veggies in 1-2 minutes. You can also sneak veggies into foods that he eats. Check out Jessica Seinfeld’s book “Deceptively Delicious”. Pasta and rice are favorites too. Good luck!